June 20, 2008
CTA Shutting Down Segment Of Blue Line
We've whined and moaned about the constant shut downs of CTA lines over the last several months, but now we feel our gripes are somewhat legitimate. Whereas previous blue line shutdowns have occurred during late night hours on weekends, a new closure between O'Hare and Rosemont will occur July 8 and last three weeks. The CTA will provide 24-hour shuttle bus to connect between the stations in lieu of the trains. Blergh. Says CTA President Ron Huberman: "Through this intensive track replacement effort, customers traveling between O'Hare and Rosemont will notice a significant improvement in train speeds when work on this section is completed by the end of July." We'd better, R-Hub. We'd better.
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Ah well. Doesn't bother me much. Not like I'd want to get anywhere near O'Hare anyway. If there's any form of transporation worse than the CTA it's air travel.
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WTF!?! I guess I'm not terribly concerned, but I hope signage is going to be plentiful at O'Hare, because I'd be pissed if I was a business traveler intent on taking the Blue Line, I get all the way to the basement walkway, all the way to the Blue Line station, to find out that it's closed and I need to go back upstairs.
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"We've whined and moaned about the constant shut downs of CTA lines over the last several months, but now we feel our gripes are somewhat legitimate."
Why? If you want to proudly declare that you are a whiner and that you like to gripe, you might want to actually state what your complaint is. You didn't do that. Are you going to travel to O'Hare on a regular basis during this time? Will you be significantelly inconveinced by this? Are you concerned that others will be significatelly inconveneinced? Do you have a better solution as to how they should rebuild the track without as much inconvenience? I don't think it generally makes yourself look good if you just whine for the sake of whining. If you think that Chicagoist readers want simple whining and moaning without context or arguments, you are wrong. You may get the impression that the users of this website get their kicks just from people being angry, but I think you are wrong. They like to see people being angry for legitimate reasons. And they like to see at least some attempt at a suggestion of alternatives or solutions when they see this anger. I don't see any evidence that you are even affected by the reroutes you mention in this post and the two you linked to. Yet you try to pass off that you are. In one of the posts, you state that there was going to be a "wierd" brown line reroute that weekend that would cause the trains to pass Diversey in one direction. In reality, that reroute has occcured at least a half dozen weekends over the past year (and many overnights). If you want to connect with Chicagoist readers you really need to do more that whine and moan for the sake of whining and moaning (and you certainly should not proudly declare yourself a whiner and moaner).
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MK - First, thanks for reading. Second, thanks for taking the time to respond.
Now: How exactly am I "proudly" declaring our whining? I admitted that yes, I've whined about it because if I didn't, I'm sure someone would have piped up with "Man, you whine about that a lot." But never do I claim to be "proud" of whining.
And actually, I (and countless others) ARE affected by the reroutes. Most of us use public transportation at one point or another. In fact, everyone who has to travel to and from O'Hare (including the tens of thousands of tourists) will be affected by this impending reroute as it will be a 24-7 project. You're right in that previous overnight reroutes have been relatively minor. But this one is pretty major. Shutting down the track from one of the nation's largest airports for three weeks is a pretty big shutdown, and one worthy of mention.
Also, I realize the readers of this website are looking for a little more substance than me whining and moaning about a CTA shutdown. That said, this was not meant as an editorial post, but rather a small news post to inform readers of the impending shutdown and provide them with a link to more information. As for offering a solution, well, I admit I got nothing there. I'm a writer, not a public transportation exec or civic planner.
But if you have any suggestions as to how the CTA can better replace the tracks rather than shutting down the Blue Line for three weeks in the middle of tourist season, I'd welcome hearing it.